With the northern summer schedules kicking in later this month, here’s a quick roundup on the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, which are progressively appearing on more routes.
A total of 18 cities will be served from Singapore with these new seats from May 2019, Kuala Lumpur being the shortest and Brisbane the longest.
SIA’s 2018 Regional Business Class
This new product is a far cry from the older 2-2-2 Regional Business Class ‘sloped bed’ seats, with enhanced privacy, direct aisle access for all passengers and a fully-flat sleeping position.
We reviewed it last year on a flight from Singapore to Bangkok.
Click here to read our full review of the Singapore Airlines 2018 Regional Business Class
We also flew the same product back from Bangkok to Singapore to write a special focus on the ‘couple’ middle pairs, a nice option for those travelling with a colleague, friend or partner.
Many airlines are using this seat as their long-haul Business Class product, soon to be joined apparently by Turkish Airlines, so it’s great to see Singapore Airlines installing it for regional and medium-haul sectors.
Bangkok
Currently seeing just one flight per day with the latest Regional Business Class product, this is set to increase to two flights from 31st March 2019.
Both the existing SQ982/983 flight and the final flight of the day operating one hour later (SQ978/981) will be flown by the 787-10 from this date, as highlighted below.
Singapore to Bangkok
From 31st March 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ970 | SIN0710 – BKK0835 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ972* | SIN0935 – BKK1105 | 772 | 2009 RJ* |
| SQ974 | SIN1250 – BKK1420 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ976 | SIN1600 – BKK1725 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ982 | SIN1730 – BKK1900 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ978 | SIN1830 – BKK2000 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
* 2006 J seats in July and August, and from 27th October
Bangkok to Singapore
From 31st March 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ973 | BKK0940 – SIN1305 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ975** | BKK1215 – SIN1540 | 772 | 2009 RJ** |
| SQ977 | BKK1530 – SIN1855 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ979 | BKK1830 – SIN2155 | 333 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ983 | BKK2010 – SIN2330 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ981 | BKK2110 – SIN0025* | 787 | 2018 RJ |
* Next day
** 2006 J seats in July and August, and from 27th October
Other flights on this route are operated by A330 or 777-200 aircraft with 2009 Regional Business Class seats, though keep your eye out for the 2006 Business Class product on the 777-200ER operating SQ972/975 during July and August, and from 27th October through the northern winter season.
Hong Kong
A new route for the 2018 Regional Business Class seats, with the daily afternoon / evening rotation SQ872/871 shifting from the 777-200 to the 787-10 from 31st March 2019.
Singapore to Hong Kong
From 31st March 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ890 | SIN0730 – HKG1120 | 772 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ860 | SIN0840 – HKG1240 | 359 | 2013 J |
| SQ856 | SIN0955 – HKG1355 | 388 | 2017 J |
| SQ866 | SIN1305 – HKG1705 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ872 | SIN1430 – HKG1840 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
| SQ2 | SIN1830 – HKG2215 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ868* | SIN1955 – HKG2350 | 772 | 2009 RJ* |
* 2006 J seats from 1st June
Hong Kong to Singapore
From 31st March 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Seats |
| SQ1 | HKG0800 – SIN1150 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ857* | HKG0905 – SIN1300 | 772 | 2009 RJ* |
| SQ891 | HKG1225 – SIN1620 | 772 | 2009 RJ |
| SQ863 | HKG1425 – SIN1820 | 359 | 2013 J |
| SQ861 | HKG1540 – SIN1935 | 388 | 2017 J |
| SQ865 | HKG1850 – SIN2240 | 77W | 2013 J |
| SQ871 | HKG1955 – SIN2355 | 787 | 2018 RJ |
* 2006 J seats from 1st June
In other changes on the Hong Kong route the SQ868/857 flights switch to the 777-200ER with 2006 Business Class seats from 1st June 2019, returning another long-haul seat type to the route.
From 1st June therefore the Hong Kong route becomes a complete mishmash of SIA Business Class seats, featuring all five of the airline’s J products across the seven daily flights.
Bengaluru
As we already announced in December last year, SIA’s replacement of Scoot on the Bengaluru route meant the introduction of the A350 Regional on this city pair, with three-times weekly flights featuring the new 2018 Regional Business Class seats.
No surprise therefore that Singapore Airlines has gone one further and also replaced its existing daily 777-200 flight (SQ502/503) with the A350 Regional too, from the same date.
Singapore to Bengaluru
From 17th May 2019
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Days |
| SQ502 | SIN2005 – BLR2150 | 359 | Daily |
| SQ504 | SIN2220 – BLR0005* | 359 | ····567 |
* Next day
Bengaluru to Singapore
From 17th May 2019 (SQ505 from 18th May 2019)
| Flight | From / To | Aircraft | Days |
| SQ505 | BLR0120 – SIN0825 | 359 | 1····67 |
| SQ503 | BLR2305 – SIN0610* | 359 | Daily |
* Next day
This leaves only SilkAir offering an inferior product (for now) on its five-times weekly 737 MAX 8 flights to Bengaluru – one to avoid until the flat-bed seats are installed.
Redemption rates
Here are the KrisFlyer redemption rates for saver awards by route for these three destinations.
| KrisFlyer Redemption Rates | ||
| Economy | Business | |
| Bangkok | 12,500 | 21,500 |
| Bengaluru | 18,500 | 39,000 |
| Hong Kong | 15,000 | 30,500 |
Other changes
A few other changes are coming into force with the northern summer timetable from the end of March. Here are our highlights.
- As we’ve mentioned previously in our seat tracker, the Delhi 787-10 flight (SQ402/401) reverts to a 777-200 with 2009 Regional Business Class seats during April, but then switches back to the 787-10 from 1st May.
- Manila gets a 777-200ER with 2006 Business Class seats throughout March on SQ916/921, then from 31st March to 30th September switching to SQ912/919. The route is also served by the 2018 RJ seat (SQ918/915) and the 2009 RJ seat (all other flights).
- Jakarta also sees the 777-200ER with 2006 J seats on SQ968/951 from 31st March to 1st July, meaning you can experience four out of five of SIA’s Business Class seat types on this route during that period (only the 2017 J doesn’t fly there).
- Regulars on the SQ832/835 Shanghai flights will be disappointed with a downgrade from the 2013 J seat on the existing 777-300ER to the 2009 RJ seat using the 777-200 from 27th April, but will appreciate some respite with the 2006 J seats on the 777-200ER during June and July.
Remember our Business Class seats by route page shows you all the details of the seat type you can expect by route, individual flight number and date. Be sure to bookmark it as we regularly update the information from changes reflected in the GDS.
Summary
You can see our updated list of routes with the new 2018 Regional Business Class seats here.
From mid-May 2019 there will be 18 destinations served from Singapore with at least one flight per day featuring these new seats. That’s a very quick ramp up following the first introduction of the product to commercial service around a year ago, in April 2018.
It’s a total that’s set to increase further with our recent prediction that an additional seven 787-10s and up to 15 A350s (many or perhaps all of them the Regional variant) are likely to join the fleet over the 12 months.
Most of these will replace A330s, with leases on the remaining 18 aircraft progressively expiring between now and approximately September 2020.
The exact totals will be revealed at the next SIA investor update, but look out for many more 2018 Regional Business Class seats on the network over the next year. As always, we’ll update you as soon as we know where they’re flying.
(Cover Image: Singapore Airlines)